PostalReporter.com Blog

With news that eligible employees will soon be receiving notice from the Postal Service about an offer of Voluntary Early Retirement (VER), APWU President William Burrus is advising union members to delay making a decision as long as possible.

“The decision about when to retire is a personal one that is influenced by family obligations and lifestyle,” Burrus said. “But the attractiveness of ending a career early should be weighed with consideration of factors that may not be readily apparent.”

In addition to life-long annuity reductions, he said, employees should realize that the Postal Service offer is being made because of the prospect of heavy financial losses in the current fiscal year and beyond. “The opportunity to retire early may be tempting, but it is not being offered for the employee’s benefit: It is intended to improve the financial condition of the Postal Service.”

“An employee who retires after 25 years of service can expect to receive an annuity of less than half of the average basic salary of the last three years,” Burrus said. He noted that this would exclude most of the time period covered by the 2008 upgrade and the September 2008 Cost-of-Living Adjustment, which is expected to be over $1,000 — one of the largest in postal history.

“Employees who can work for another 15 years before reaching their annuity maximums can expect pay hikes over that time equal to the nearly $18,000 in raises over the past 15 years,” Burrus said of the increase from $34,000 to September’s $52,000.

“The USPS would save about $1 million in salary, benefits, and retirement annuity for each such employee,” he said.

“Those who take the early-out offer will allow the Postal Service to avoid these future obligations, while receiving a significantly lower annuity for the balance of their lives — and lives of their survivors.” The annuity reduction would be “substantial,” he said, and cannot be justified unless the Postal Service offers an incentive.

“We have discussed incentives with the Postal Service,” Burrus said, “but, so far, management has refused to consider any kind of bonus in conjunction with the early-out offer.” The discussions with management are continuing, he said.

“We do not oppose Voluntary Early Retirement per se,” Burrus said, “but we believe incentives should be offered and all eligible employees should be included.”

“And we expect that if a sufficient number of employees do not accept the early-out, the Postal Service will still face a significant deficit, and will still be forced to find ways to reduce the workforce. We will be having continuing discussions with postal management,” he said, “and these discussions will be influenced by the number of employees who voluntarily retire without incentives.”

“In this uncertain economy, there is no reason to make a hasty decision,” Burrus said. “Energy and medical costs are escalating, which will make it extremely difficult to survive on a fixed income. One simply has to consider the financial disincentives to retire early, especially without an upfront monetary incentive.”

“As employees who meet the eligibility criteria think about their choices, I ask that they forgo making a quick decision. At this time, the union’s recommendation to eligible employees is that unless you have compelling personal reasons to retire early, DON’T GO.”

(Federal Times) The U.S. Postal Service will not change its mail delivery practices following the February Supreme Court decision that allows a woman to sue the agency after she said she was injured when she tripped and fell over mail left on her porch.

“We really can’t change what we have been doing since 1864 because we have been doing it pretty well since 1864,” said Postal Service spokesman Gerry McKiernan.

After the ruling, the Postal Service reviewed its regulations regarding when mail and packages can be left outside and decided against changing them. Supervisors will remind letter carriers of the policies during “stand-up talks” — or instructions — at the beginning of each shift.

The Supreme Court ruling said the Postal Service was not immune from suits; it didn’t say the Postal Service had to settle. If you sue the Postal Service, you have to do it in a federal court arguing against a U.S. attorney who works for the Postal Service for free. So they are not the easiest people to sue, and this case won’t open the floodgates of litigation,” Merritt said.

Drew Von Bergen, spokesman for the National Association of Letter Carriers, defended letter carriers as an exceptionally conscientious group of workers who make every effort to put the mail where it will be protected from the elements yet available to its recipients without getting in their way.

“Most people here are assuming the worst: that the U.S. Postal Service won’t keep the Dougherty post office open just to serve the 22 P.O. boxes in the lobby and to sell stamps. It’s a fear shared by small towns across the country. They worry that losing the post office will hasten their hometowns’ demise, because people who need to buy stamps or mail a package while running errands could decide to shop elsewhere. In the past two years, 222 post offices have closed

source: USA Today

“The President nominated the following individuals to be Governors on the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service: Mickey D. Barnett, of New Mexico, for the remainder of a nine-year term expiring December 8, 2013; Katherine C. Tobin, of New York, for the remainder of a nine-year term expiring December 8, 2012.” Barnett, a lawyer for the Republican party in New Mexico, was involved in the 2000 presidential election recount.  In 2004, some Republicans criticized Barnett for serving as a paid lobbyist while holding a party position

Bush Nominates Two for USPS Board of Governors

 Computer glitches caused delays and limited services at nearly 2,000 post offices across the United States for several hours Thursday, U.S. Postal Service officials said.

Spokeswoman Patricia Licata in Washington D.C. said the problems affected 1,982 post offices out of 15,000 that rely on computerized systems to process credit card payments and automate services such as weighing letters and packages.

She said the systems were made by Ohio-based NCR Corp.

“We had a network issue that caused some system freezing,” said Sharon Mayall, a postal service spokeswoman in San Francisco. “They receive information and downloads and updates from this system and apparently they were doing a download last night and there were some network issues that caused some delays this morning.”

Officials said the computer problems were fixed after several hours and normal service eventually restored. Licata warned, however, that it was possible that more problems could arise on Friday morning.

According to its Web site, NCR has installed automation systems in 8,500 U.S. post offices and the company has announced expansion of its software to 15,000 post offices this year.

An NCR spokeswoman reached on Thursday night said she did not have information on the post office problems.

source: Reuters

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced an agreement with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that will result in payment of more than $6.5 million in back wages to almost 900 pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers. The employees worked on several USPS contracts and subcontracts to transport mail by air between January 1996 and August 2001. Wages paid were subject to requirements of the Service Contract Act (SCA).“In keeping with this Administration’s commitment to ensuring that workers receive all the wages they have earned, the department has finally reached an agreement settling a decade-old dispute involving employees of Postal Service contractors,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. “Back wages of $6.5 million will now be paid to the nearly 900 affected workers.”

The USPS and other parties — contractors, the Air Force and the Air Line Pilots Association — challenged before the Labor Department’s Administrative Review Board a change in the method used by the Wage and Hour Division to determine new, higher prevailing wage rates for flight crew employees. USPS did not incorporate the higher rates for pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers into their contracts and brought the matter to the Review Board. The Board vacated Wage and Hour’s method of computing the new rates and remanded the matter for issuance of a new wage determination.

This settlement resolves issues raised over 10 years ago by the challenge before the Administrative Review Board. The USPS contractors and subcontractors affected by this settlement are Ryan International Airlines, Express One International Inc. and Evergreen International Airlines Inc. Under the agreement, USPS will directly contact and make back wage payments to the employees who worked on the contracts and subcontracts.

Open Comments

source: Department of Labor 

130 million postcards will be mailed monthlyDilbert has some time-saving information for Wally, who finds it too taxing to believe, and Cathy encounters a little chaos trying to find stamps.

Dilbert has some time-saving information for Wally, who finds it too taxing to believe, and Cathy encounters a little chaos trying to find stamps.Not to worry, though. The U.S. Postal Service is on the way to save the day. A little dramatic, perhaps. But these are comic strips, after all.

Cathy Guisewite, creator of “Cathy,” and Scott Adams, creator of “Dilbert” will draw original, three-panel comic strips for a series of postcards that are being sent to 120 million residential addresses and 10 million business addresses.

Each month, “Keeping You Posted” will provide customers with information about a variety of products and services, from flat-rate packaging and Click-N-Ship to NetPost CardStore and money orders.

“We’ve begun a dialogue with our customers about our services, and chose two characters everyone can relate to in helping to tell our story,” said Anita Bizzotto, USPS Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President. “We wanted to connect with people in a way that was interesting and humorous.”

“Cathy” will be featured on seven postcards sent to residential customers. She will help spread the word on products and services that may be unfamiliar to customers, highlighting the suite of services available online through usps.com. The first postcard highlights all of the places stamps can be purchased - in addition to the local Post Office.

The recipient of the prestigious Reuben Award for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year,” Guisewite began drawing “Cathy” in 1976, focusing on the trials, tribulations and humor in the life of American career women. The strip appears in 1,400 newspapers worldwide.

“I love the Post Office and its long, rich history of connecting people, and am so honored that my characters were chosen to help spread news about the Post Office in 2006. It’s a dream come true for my Mom and Dad. Not only am I associated with one of the great institutions of our country, but they’re guaranteed to get 7 pieces of mail from me in the near future.”

The ubiquitous and universal world of cubicles and questioning bosses has made “Dilbert” one of the most recognizable and believable comic strips printed today. Launched in 50 newspapers in 1989, “Dilbert” is seen by more than 150 million people every day in more than 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries. Adams, “Dilbert”’s creator, literally draws on years of experience in the business world, including stints as a budget manager, strategist and engineer.

“I’m trying to suck up to the Postal Service so they’ll put me on a stamp,” Adams joked. “My long-term plan is to claim credit for every package they deliver.”

Dilbert will help business customers navigate a world of shipping and mailing options and offer services that can help make a business more efficient, including Carrier Pickup and Global Express Mail.

The first of eight postcards directed toward business customers promotes “My Desktop Post Office,” new, downloadable software that takes users directly to the postal transactions they use most often on usps.com.

The first sets of postcards are being mailed this week. Residential customers will receive a postcard through August. Postcards will be mailed to business customers through the end of September.

Please note: PDFs of the first cartoon strips are available by calling 202.268.3118.

source: USPS press release

 By Senator Susan Collins

On January 8th, Americans saw the cost of the first-class postage stamp increase by two cents, to 39 cents. While two cents may not seem that significant one letter at a time, this increase will cost postal customers billions of dollars over the next several years, and nowhere will this increase be felt more than by the nine million Americans whose jobs and businesses rely on the United States Postal Service.

Over the past few years, however, the Postal Service has been plagued by serious financial and operational problems that threaten its long-term viability. At present, the Postal Service’s liabilities are enormous–to the tune of nearly $7 billion for Workers’ Compensation claims, $5 billion for retirement costs, and as much as $45 billion to cover retiree health care costs.

The Postal Service is also grappling with declining volumes of first-class mail as business communications, bills and payments have been moving more and more to the Internet. The Postal Service has faced declining volumes of first-class mail for the past four years, matters because first-class mail accounts for 48 percent of total mail volume and the revenue it generates pays for more than two-thirds of the Postal Service’s institutional costs. That volume decline causes the Postal Service to seek rate increases, which, in turn, causes further declines in volume as mailers seek alternatives. The Government Accountability Office warns that this could lead to a “death spiral” for this vital institution.

The Postal Service also faces the difficult task of trying to cut costs from its nationwide infrastructure and transportation network. These costs are difficult to cut. Even though volumes may be decreasing, carriers must still deliver six days a week to more than 139 million addresses nationwide.

Fortunately, the U.S. Senate has taken an important step toward strengthening the financial future of the Postal Service by approving the “Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.” I was joined by my colleague, Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE), in authoring this bipartisan legislation, which makes the most sweeping reforms to the Postal Service in more than 30 years. Our bill modernizes the rate-setting process to provide more predictability and helps ensure a stronger financial future for the organization. Open Comments

source:Magic City Morning Star

With fewer people living in the city, more than 200 Orleans Parish postal workers will soon be permanently relocated out of town, according to a document obtained by Eyewitness News. A notification letter to one employee, dated February 9, was actually delivered in the mail Wednesday [ 2/22], giving her less than two weeks to move to a new town and job. One worker, a single mother, who complained about unreasonable expectations to a postal service counselor, was told to leave her child with a friend while she relocated. The current reassignment date for those post office employees was March 4, but Dave Lewin, a post office spokesman, said that date was not written in stone. Open Comments

 source: WWL TV New Orleans

“The U.S. Postal Service last week detained a Washington, D.C.-based journalist for a German television network, releasing him only after he agreed to turn over his videotape of news footage taken at a New Orleans mail pick-up center for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Stephan Bachenheimer, a reporter/videographer for Bonn-based Deutsche Welle television network, was interviewing and filming people standing in ZIP code-delineated lines to pick up their mail Feb. 16 when a law enforcement officer asked him to leave, he said.” Open Comments

source: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press